The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

America's Queen

The definitive biography of Jackie Kennedy, by Britain's best royal biographer 
 
Jackie Kennedy was a twentieth-century icon of glamour, elegance and grace. As the beautiful young wife of President John F. Kennedy, she was adored, her style imitated across the world. 
 
But beneath the perfection of her public life lay contradiction, passion, and, all to often, tragedy. Sarah Bradford's brilliant new biography not only gives a fascinating account of her time with JFK, but also of her life after his assassination in 1963, in all its colour and controversy.

There has not been, nor will there be, a better biography of Jackie

Exceptionally intelligent and well-written . . . a thumping good read

A timely reminder of the contradictory and complicated character of the First Lady . . . a revealing portrait

Long before Diana Spencer, Jacqueline Kennedy was the world's ultimate fantasy princess . . . In public, at JFK's side, Jackie's air of breathless sophistication, her chic cultural warmth complemented [him] perfectly. In private she could be softly malicious . . . scurrilously funny, and full of the entertaining intolerance of those who are young, rich, beautiful . . . a lucid, well-written new biography

Sarah Bradford is very good, and very detailed, about the Kennedys. A good biography, and a good history

Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life

Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives

The definitive biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - a fascinating account of an extraordinary life. 
 
Jackie Bouvier's privileged upbringing instilled rigid self-control, while her expedient marriage into the Kennedy clan consolidated her determination. Revealing new testimony from many of the couple's closest friends show the profound complexities both of this very public relationship, including the affairs that threatened it, and of her controversial marriage to Onassis. Here is the private Jackie - neglected wife, vigilant mother, obsessive shopper and working widow - whose fascinating nature is illuminated by all that Bradford has discovered.

Her Life in Our Times

Queen Elizabeth II

From Sarah Bradford, the best-selling author of George VI, Elizabeth and Diana, the definitive biography of Queen Elizabeth II, now celebrating the Platinum Jubilee -- her 70th year on the throne 
 
Elizabeth II has lived through the Abdication, the Blitz and World War Two, the sex and spy scandals of the swinging sixties, the Cold War and the nuclear threat, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a global pandemic. She has known 14 US Presidents including JFK, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, and other world leaders like President Mandela and Pope John XXII. Her Prime Ministers have ranged from Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher to Boris Johnson. 
 
Her own family experiences, a mixture of happiness and crisis, weddings and divorces, and, in the case of Diana, violent death, have been lived in the glare of tabloid headlines. More than 2 billion people watched the wedding of her grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton in 2010 shortly before she made the first State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch for 100 years. Our world has changed more in her lifetime than in any of her predecessors': the Queen has remained a calm presence at the centre, earning the respect of monarchists and republicans. How has she done it? 
 
'Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life' Sunday Telegraph 
 
'Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives' Daily Telegraph

Elizabeth II has lived through the Abdication, the Blitz and World War Two, the sex and spy scandals of the swinging sixties, the Cold War and the nuclear threat and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. She has known 11 US Presidents including JFK and Ronald Reagan, and other world leaders like President Mandela and Pope John XXII. Her Prime Ministers have ranged from Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher to David Cameron, the last only ten years older than her grandson. 
 
Her own family experiences, a mixture of happiness and crisis, weddings and divorces, and, in the case of Diana, violent death, have been lived in the glare of tabloid headlines. More than 2 billion people watched the wedding of her grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton in 2010 shortly before she made the first State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch for 100 years. Our world has changed more in her lifetime than in any of her predecessors': the Queen has remained a calm presence at the centre, earning the respect of monarchists and republicans. How has she done it?

Cesare Borgia

THE FULL STORY BEHIND THE BORGIAS, NOW A MAJOR TV DRAMA STARRING JEREMY IRONS 
 
'Either Caesar or nothing' was the motto of Cesare Borgia, whose name has long been synonymous with evil. Almost five centuries have passed since his death, yet his reputation still casts a sinister shadow. He stands accused of treachery, cruelty, rape, incest and, especially, murder - assassination by poison, the deadly white powder concealed in the jewelled ring, or by the midnight band of bravos lurking in the alleys of Renaissance Rome. 
 
This classic book by acclaimed historian and biographer Sarah Bradford (author of Lucrezia Borgia and Diana), is the drama of a man of exceptional gifts and a driving lust for power. Cesare Borgia dared fortune for the highest goals and when fate turned against him he fell like Lucifer. Set against the brilliant backcloth of High Renaissance Italy, his life had the perfect proportions of a Greek tragedy.

The Dutiful King

George VI

The definitive biography of George VI, the hero of The King's Speech 
 
George VI reigned through taxing times. Acceding to the throne upon his brother's abdication, he was immediately confronted with the turmoil in European politics leading up to the Second World War, then the War itself, followed by a period of austerity, social transformation and loss of Empire. George was unprepared for kingship, suffering from a stammer which could make public occasions very painful for him. Moreover he had grown up in the shadow of his brother, a man who had been idolized as no royal prince has been, before or since. However, as Sarah Bradford shows in this sympathetic biography, although George was not born to be king, he died a great one. 
 
'A triumph ... Sarah Bradford looks set to inherit Lady Longford's mantle as royal biographer supreme' Mail on Sunday 
 
'Lucid, convincing and admirably fair ... George VI has been fortunate in his biographer' Philip Ziegler 
 
'Vivid, thorough and enjoyable' Independent 
 
Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. Her books include Cesare Borgia (1976), Disraeli (1982), winner of the New York Times Book of the Year, Princess Grace (1984), Sacherevell Sitwell (1993), Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen (1996), America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (2000), Lucrezia Borgia (2005) and Diana (2007).She lives in London and is married to the 8th Viscount Bangor. She is currently working on a full scale biography of Queen Victoria.

George VI reigned through taxing times. Acceding to the throne upon his brother's abdication, he was immediately confronted with the turmoil in European politics leading up to the Second World War, then the War itself, followed by a period of austerity, social transformation and loss of Empire. George was unprepared for kingship, suffering from a stammer which could make public occasions very painful for him. Moreover he had grown up in the shadow of his brother, a man who had been idolized as no royal prince has been, before or since. However, as Sarah Bradford shows in this sympathetic biography, although George was not born to be king, he died a great one.

Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy

Lucrezia Borgia

Meticulously researched and wonderfully vivid, this is the first biography of Lucrezia Borgia for over sixty years, by the distinguished and bestselling Sarah Bradford

Sarah Bradford's Lucrezia Bogia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy is the first biography of Lucrezia Borgia for over sixty years 
 
.Lucrezia Borgia - an infamous murderess or simply the victim of bad press? Lucrezia Borgia's name has echoed through history as a byword for evil - a poisoner who committed incest with her natural father, Pope Alexander VI, and with her brother, Cesare Borgia. Long considered the most ruthless of Italian Renaissance noblewomen, her tarnished reputation has prevailed long since her own lifetime. In this definitive biography, a work of huge scholarship and erudition, Sarah Bradford gives a fascinating account of Lucrezia's life in all its colourful controversy. Daughter, sister, wife and mother, Lucrezia Borgia was surrounded by wealth, privilege and intrigue. But what was the truth behind her extraordinary existence - was she a monster of cruelty and deceit, or simply the pawn of her power-hungry father and brother? 
 
'Sarah Bradford writes with cool authority and her research in Italian archives is exemplary. No other biography is likely to bring us closer to Lucrezia' Spectator 
 
'Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives' Daily Telegraph 
 
Sarah Bradford is a historian and biographer. Her books include Cesare Borgia (1976), Disraeli (1982), winner of the New York Times Book of the Year, Princess Grace (1984), Sacherevell Sitwell (1993), Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen (1996), America's Queen: The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (2000), Lucrezia Borgia (2005) and Diana (2007). She frequently appears on television as an authority on her biographical subjects and as a commentator on notable royal events. She is currently working on a full scale biography of Queen Victoria. She lives in London.

Lucrezia Borgia - an infamous murderess or simply the victim of bad press? Lucrezia Borgia's name has echoed through history as a byword for evil - a poisoner who committed incest with her natural father, Pope Alexander VI, and with her brother, Cesare Borgia. Long considered the most ruthless of Italian Renaissance noblewomen, her tarnished reputation has prevailed long since her own lifetime. In this definitive biography, a work of huge scholarship and erudition, Sarah Bradford gives a fascinating account of Lucrezia's life in all its colourful controversy. Daughter, sister, wife and mother, Lucrezia Borgia was surrounded by wealth, privilege and intrigue. But what was the truth behind her extraordinary existence - was she a monster of cruelty and deceit, or simply the pawn of her power-hungry father and brother?

A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen

Elizabeth

'The most revealing, intimate and authoritative portrait of the Queen ever written' The Times

Sarah Bradford's Elizabeth is the definitive biography of the Queen, revealing the real woman behind the public figure 
 
The Queen lived through nearly a century of immense change and upheaval. Her own family experiences, a mixture of happiness and crisis, weddings and divorces, and, in the case of Diana, violent death, have been lived in the glare of tabloid headlines. More than 2 billion people watched the wedding of her grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton in 2010 shortly before she made the first State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch for 100 years. Our world has changed more in her lifetime than in any of her predecessors': and before her death, the Queen remained a calm presence at the centre, earning the respect of monarchists and republicans. How did she do it? 
__________________________ 
 
'The only book that could overtake it is the autobiography, which in this case will never be written' Spectator 
 
'Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life' Sunday Telegraph 
 
'Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives' Daily Telegraph

The Queen lived through nearly a century of immense change and upheaval. Her own family experiences, a mixture of happiness and crisis, weddings and divorces, and, in the case of Diana, violent death, have been lived in the glare of tabloid headlines. More than 2 billion people watched the wedding of her grandson Prince William to Catherine Middleton in 2010 shortly before she made the first State Visit to Ireland by a British monarch for 100 years. Our world has changed more in her lifetime than in any of her predecessors': and before her death, the Queen remained a calm presence at the centre, earning the respect of monarchists and republicans. How did she do it? 
__________________________ 
 
'The only book that could overtake it is the autobiography, which in this case will never be written' Spectator 
 
'Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life' Sunday Telegraph 
 
'Bradford's forte, ever since she was a history-mad girl, is thinking herself into other lives' Daily Telegraph

Sarah Bradford

The definitive biography. In this authoritative account, Bradford paints a revealing, accurate portrait of a complex woman flawed and adored in equal measure.

Readers will find themselves gripped by this gloriously gossipy account. Bradford is even-handed and unafraid.

Diana is Sarah Bradford's excellent and authoritative new biography of the most extraordinary woman in recent history ... Sarah Bradford has set a high standard for the others to follow

You feel from this book that you know the woman as she probably was, and that is because, perhaps for the first time, a grown-up has written about her

Bradford has a real grasp of history and the ability to make it spark into new life

A woman of intelligence and taste ... Bradford is an excellent writer who has produced a balanced and well-researched biography.

A very sad story. Bradford tells it eloquently, but it's her admirable detachment that leaves one pitying all, not one, of the characters involved.

20th Anniversary Edition

Glamour. Duty. Tragedy: The Woman Behind the Princess. 
 
Sarah Bradford delivers an authoritative and explosive study of the greatest icon of the twentieth century: Diana. 
 
After more than a decade interviewing those closest to the Princess and her select circle, Sarah Bradford exposes the real Diana: the blighted childhood, the old-fashioned courtship which saw her capture the Prince of Wales, the damage caused by the spectre of Camilla Parker Bowles, through to the collapse of the royal marriage and Diana's final and complicated year as a single woman. 
 
Diana paints an honest portrait of a woman riddled with contradictions and whose vulnerability and unique empathy with the suffering made her one of the most extraordinary figures of the modern age.

Sarah Bradford

Praise for Diana

The definitive biography. In this authoritative account, Bradford paints a revealing, accurate portrait of a complex woman flawed and adored in equal measure.

Readers will find themselves gripped by this gloriously gossipy account. Bradford is even-handed and unafraid.

Diana is Sarah Bradford's excellent and authoritative new biography of the most extraordinary woman in recent history ... Sarah Bradford has set a high standard for the others to follow

The definitive biography. In this authoritative account, Bradford paints a revealing, accurate portrait of a complex woman flawed and adored in equal measure.

Readers will find themselves gripped by this gloriously gossipy account. Bradford is even-handed and unafraid.

Diana is Sarah Bradford's excellent and authoritative new biography of the most extraordinary woman in recent history ... Sarah Bradford has set a high standard for the others to follow

The definitive biography. In this authoritative account, Bradford paints a revealing, accurate portrait of a complex woman flawed and adored in equal measure.

Readers will find themselves gripped by this gloriously gossipy account. Bradford is even-handed and unafraid.

Diana is Sarah Bradford's excellent and authoritative new biography of the most extraordinary woman in recent history ... Sarah Bradford has set a high standard for the others to follow

Books by Sarah Bradford

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